Aftermath: Rebellion
by torihito
Summary: Nick and his friends are in a sticky situation. Behind enemy lines with an all-out war brewing, what will they do in order to survive? And which side are they truly on? Sequel to Suicide Squad
1. WARNING

**WARNING! This is a sequel to another story I have written titled Aftermath: The Suicide Squad. If you haven't read that story, you're going to be pretty confused right from the start here. I suggest fixing this problem by reading Aftermath. It's a pretty good story, or so my readers tell me.**

**If you have read Aftermath, then welcome back. This is the second part of the story, and it's going to be a good one. I've got all kinds of wonderful things planned and unanswered questions to answer. So let's get this show on the road!**


	2. A New Squad

**Chapter 1: A New Squad**

Wind. That was the first thing he noticed. A slight breeze that snatched lazily at his tattered uniform, his hair caked with blood and sweat. Another thing to notice. A slight ache over his body, familiar to him but never like this. The ache of a body that has been fighting, battling desperately to survive for far longer than it should be able. That's when his training kicked in. Ignore the pain. Find your weapon. Get up. He groaned, rolling onto his stomach. That was a mistake, as a fresh wave of pain seared across his body. He grunted, only barely holding in a scream. He took a moment to rest as his other senses came back, sharpened by the pain. He could taste blood in his mouth, which he spat out. Something else was there, something his brain couldn't entirely process in its present state. It started with an s. What was it? Sand?

He decided that it didn't entirely matter, though he was sure that it was indeed sand. His noticed his hearing had returned, but only in one ear. He hoped that the loss wasn't permanent, but expected the worst. Far in the distance, sounds of swords clashing and yells of fury and courage echoed. The sounds of a battle. The pain was gone, so it was now time to try to move again. Ignoring the wonderful new sensations coming from what seemed like every wound he had ever received, he put his hands out, grabbing handfuls of the ground (it appeared he was correct in identifying the sand) and pushing himself up. Gasping for breath, he opened his eyes, shutting them immediately from the brightness of the sand below him. It was white, where had he seen white sand before? Oh, right. In the same place he had been for the past few months.

In Hueco Mundo.

* * *

Nick stood on a balcony outside his room. _No, not my room_ he reminded himself. _My room is back in that shack in the Graveyard. _He looked back out at the endless desert, the white dunes and eternal night of Hueco Mundo. He had been to this place before, missions for the Suicide Squad often sending them in to deal with groups of hollows that had organized somehow. He had always found it kind of nice, but now that he had had an extended stay, the unchanging scenery started to wear on him. _Even the false sky inside is useless_ he thought, remembering the large hole in the middle of the ceiling, breaking the illusion.

"Couldn't sleep huh?" Ace asked, walking into the room noisily. If Nick _had_ been asleep, there would have been no hope in staying that way. As it was, he just nodded. "Same here, I'm starting to get uneasy."

"Because we're surrounded by powerful people who could turn on us at any moment?" Nick pointed out, still staring out the window.

"No." Ace said darkly. "Because I'm starting to like them."

* * *

Two weeks ago, Nick and Ace were standing in a brightly lit room, surrounded by people they didn't know, but would get to know very well in the coming days. Julian, one man who interested Nick immensely, had offered them a chance to stay with them, so long as they helped him with his plan. A plan to overthrow Seireitei and the captains.

"You want to overthrow Seireitei!? That's _crazy_! You wouldn't last a-" Triana, Nick's sister, began before getting cut off by Shauna's hand covering her mouth. She glared at the other woman, who stared passively back.

"I'm sorry about my sister." Nick said hastily. "She's a little slow to catch on to new ideas." He glared back at her. "Shut up and let me do the talking." he hissed.

Julian, an older man with barely any white hair left an the hard face of a general, smiled almost warmly. "It's fine, it's fine. I have heard others say the same thing. Why, I have even said it myself once in a while. One would have to be insane to take down the current structure, to attack Seireitei. But you misunderstand, girl. I do not wish to make myself the new god like Sosuke Aizen, or to eradicate the shinigami like Ywach, the Quincy king. No, I have a much grander dream, one that is much easier to fight for, and harder to stop."

Ace chuckled. "Grander than becoming a god? This I've got to hear." he spat.

"Watch your tone." another man growled. This was Anthony, Julian's second-in-command. He had feather-like black hair, and a young, but hawkish face. Ace moved to retort, but Justin held him back with a look.

Julian continued to smile. "Mock me if you wish, but it is true. Those men wished to fulfill selfish dreams, to destroy what is already there, the system already in place. I, however, am different. I believe that the system is correct, only flawed. And I have tried to correct these flaws from within. But the regime of Yamamoto Genryusai was unyielding, and I was cast out of Seireitei."

"Cast out?" Nick asked. "Interesting. You'd think they would just killed you and been done with it."

Julian nodded. "Exactly what Yamamoto thought. He did indeed attempt to kill me." Julian parted his gi slightly, revealing the beginning of a horrible burn scar. "However, he underestimated the will to live of an unseated officer with rebellious thoughts."

"Okay so, what, you hide out for a few hundred years and wait for the right time to strike? Sounds a lot like the Quincys." Justin stated.

"But the Quincy, as I have said, were fighting to destroy the shinigami race, to upset the balance. We do not." Julian replied.

"Then what do you want?" Nick asked. "You say that you wish to overthrow Seireitei, but that you agree with their system. So what gives? Do you just want to be top dog?"a

Julian shook his head. "No child. I want to make things better for the people. For the Rukongai."

Silence fell on the room. Then, surprisingly, Shauna stepped forward. "How do you plan on doing this? The Rukongai is massive, filled with billions of souls. They do not want for food, and are protected by the shinigami. So what would make things better?"

Julian frowned, looking at the bespectacled woman. "You have never been to the Rukongai, have you?" When Shauna nodded slowly, he relaxed. "I thought so. You say that the people do not want for food. And yet, when one becomes spiritually aware, that is exactly what indicates the change. Do you believe that the shinigami detect every soul that does so? And of the ones that they take behind their walls, do all pass through the academy? What happens to the ones that don't? You also say that they are protected. But how long does it take for shinigami to respond to a hollows attack? And what of the citizens that attack each other, in the more lawless districts? No, the souls there are not as free and safe as you hoped."

"I wish to change that. I'm going to defeat the captains of Seireitei, so engraved with the teachings of Yamamoto. And I am going to change the Rukongai for the better." Julian announced. "Now the only question is, which of you will join me, and which of you will leave? I'll leave you alone to figure it out." With that, he motioned to the people in the room and they all filled out the doors, the clunking sound of locks following them.

Another silence fell. The six people standing in the center looked at one another, each with their own thoughts on what to do. Finally, one stepped forward. "We have to join them." Nick said.

"Are you nuts!?" Triana shrieked. "These idiots are all going to get killed, just like the last few rebellions! Hell, you're squad was made to stop things like this!"

"She's got a point." Justin said. "But not the one she wants. How did they get such a large group? And why make their base at Los Noches? We've searched this place countless times, it's clean. There should be no way they avoided us for this long."

"But Aizen was years ago." Shauna stated. "If I'm correct in assuming you only searched this place recently after being formed, than they could easily have moved in."

"It doesn't matter, the point is that they are here and we have a choice." Nick said.

"I'm joining them." David announced suddenly.

There was a pause, followed by a resounding "WHAT!?" from everyone else. David blinked. "Seireitei killed Squire. I saw it right before the portal closed. He was unarmed and surrounded, no threat to them. And they killed him. I'm sure that there are kind people in Seireitei, but there are more than a few captains that have to go if things are going to improve."

"If I had my sword I'd kill you right now." Triana growled. "I don't care what you all do, I'm never fighting against Seireitei! Hell, I didn't even want to leave, I was dragged along for the ride!"

Nick glared at her. "If you want to live, I suggest you agree with them and join." he said.

That got another pause. "What do you mean by that? He said he'd let us go!" Triana yelled.

"He said we can join him or leave." Nick clarified. "He didn't say how we'd be leaving. Think about it. This guy has somehow gone undetected by Seireitei for decades, maybe even centuries. He has raised what could very well be an army. Judging from the ones we saw in this room alone, they're pretty strong. And after your little outburst about him being crazy for trying to attack Seireitei, he knows that at least some of us are loyal. So if we refuse, do you think he will let that security risk just walk right out his front door?"

Silence fell again. Finally, Justin spoke up. "This sucks." he spat. "I've had enough of fighting my own side, I don't want to do it again."

"I know." Nick agreed. "But if we want to survive to do something about this, we need to lay low. Even if we join, they're going to be watching us. I wouldn't be surprised if they were listening in right now. So keep your head down, do what you're told, and try to stay alive. That's our only goal from now on. Stay alive. Got it?" The group nodded and Nick turned to one of the doors. "Okay, we've decided!" he called and the door opened immediately.

"So you've made a decision?" Julian asked, striding through with arms outstretched. "So, who's going to join our happy little family?"

"We all are." Nick said. "We'll help you defeat Seireitei."

* * *

Two weeks later, Nick and Ace were chatting idly in Nicks room. They talked about their new allies, and how things have changed. One thing was Nicks beard, which Ace gave him endless snide comments about. He had removed most of the beard, keeping a small patch over his chin, emulating the style Justin had, as well as a mustache to complete the goatee. Ace, meanwhile, hadn't changed at all other than a few new scars, one over his mouth and another across his forehead.

They were dressed differently too, their shinigami robes discarded. The people in the Pantheon had a large supply of clothes lifted from shops in the human world. "Might as well live comfortably." Julian had said when he showed them. Nick wore a pare of faded jeans with a black belt, black boots and a rust colored t-shirt. A navy hoodie was tied around his waist, which he considered putting on as the wind blew by. Ace wore black cargo pants with white sneakers. A large camo jacket hung from his shoulders, pockets all over it for hunting and fishing gear. A white cotton shirt hid his chest from view.

"So how's Triana holding up? Still not talking with you?" Ace asked.

"She's pretty pissed off about the whole situation." Nick revealed. "She hasn't even asked me about how I'm alive, or who Ian is or anything."

"Oh, she knows about Ian?" Ace said, chuckling. "_That's _a name I haven't heard in a while."

"Yeah, well since I can't sleep we might as well go get some grub. It might be breakfast time, I have no clue anymore." Nick muttered, moving towards the door. It opened inward before he could reach it, revealing David. He was dressed as he normally did, having never really worn shinigami robes in the first place. White t-shirt with a cross on it, black jeans, the usual. His quincy cross hung around his neck. His hair had grown out a bit, now lying flat and slightly in his eyes, and a thin mustache marked his face.

"Oh, hey guys. Going to eat?" he asked.

"Yeah actually, come on." Nick muttered. Things with David had been a little weird after his declaration when they first joined. It took a while, but eventually they warmed back up to him. But Nick never forgot that he would have joined no matter what the others had said.

The walk to the mess hall was a long one, mostly because of the crazy architecture of the building. Nick often thought that if he ever had the chance to meet Sosuke Aizen, he'd probably kill him just for designing this damn place. Finally, they arrived at the mess hall to find it filled with people. "Guess it really was breakfast time." Ace commented and Nick swung at his shoulder.

They grabbed some food and looked around, trying to find a place to sit. Every time he saw the size of the army Julian had gathered it shocked Nick. Not everyone was a soldier, there were medics and cooks and other people essential to running an army. But the amount of soldiers was nothing to scoff at. Besides Julian, Anthony and Nick's group, there were fifteen officers, each comparable in power to a captain. One small group of these officers was sitting at a table, and one of them waved at the trio.

"Oy! New guys! Come over here, let's have a chat!" she called cheerfully through her Irish accent. Of all the people here, she was one of the ones that Nick actually liked, which as Ace had said earlier, was concerning. She had thick, curly red hair that was cut really short, giving her a tomboy look. She wore a neon green shirt that showed off her waist, and the bellybutton ring attached. Some white slacks covered her slim legs. Nick shrugged to the others and moved over to sit down at her table.

"What's going on Merry?" Nick asked, sliding in across from her. On his right was a rather large man with blonde hair just as long as Ace's. He wore nothing except a pair of tan shorts, and his body was in ridiculous shape. Ace sat on the other side of Nick, making him a little uncomfortable with the similarities between his companions. Across from the shirtless man was a short black man wearing a cloth robe. He was old, older than Julian, and the only hair on him, his beard that was once black, was now white. At his side, leaning against the table, was a walking stick. David sat on the other side of Merry.

"Not much. I was just talking wif Ewart here about the reports we've been getting lately." she said, gesturing to the shirtless man. "What was it they were saying? Something about spotting people nearby?" she asked him. He grunted in response, not looking up from his food, which he devoured messily. "Right, they've spotted some people." Merry confirmed.

"People? Where at? Are you sure it's not just more hollows?" Nick asked between bites. He wasn't really hungry, but he ate a bit anyway.

"On far off scouting missions." Merry explained. "They don't see anythin' on the way out, but when tha last few groups can back in, they spotted something person-shaped running over the dunes, away from the Pantheon. Whatever it is, it's quick 'cause they can't seem to find it once it gets outta sight."

"Think Julian is gonna send someone to look for them?" Ace asked excitedly.

The black man shook his head. "So eager for violence. You should be like Ewart in more than just appearance Ace." he said, his voice deep and wise.

"You know, I'll never understand how a pacifist like you became an officer Kamu." Ace muttered before looking back at Merry. "Well?"

"Keep yer pants on Ace, I'm sure Anthony will be 'round shortly to deal with it." Merry chuckled. "Besides, it's not like they're gonna attack us, 'specially if they've been running like they have."

Just then, a boom rocked the entire room. People yelled in surprise, dishes shattered, and most of the officers jumped to their feet, Kamu grabbing his staff. The shock passed, and there was silence, followed by a voice yelling from what sounded like outside.

"Hey! You lot in there! I hope you've got some strong people, cause Kenpachi Zaraki is itching for a fight!"

**How's _that_ for a first chapter? So, a quick announcement. Since I have acquired a job, updates are no longer going to happen on Monday. I don't have time to post them in the morning and I get home later than I'd like to post. The solution? I'm posting the new chapters on Sunday now. That's all I wanted to say, other than it's good to be back. Remember to rate and review, stuff like that is what keeps me going. Peace =P**


	3. Old Friends, New Enemies

**Chapter 2: Old Faces, New Enemies**

"Did he just say Kenpachi? Kenpachi _Zaraki_!?" Ace asked excitedly. Nick groaned inwardly, but in all honesty was just as surprised as Ace was at the encounter. Ace had always been a fan of the supposedly late captain of squad 11. He had died, along with his entire squad, save for one survivor, in a mission into Hueco Mundo. They were going to eradicate the remainder of the Quincy army. The survivor refused to say anything, only that the whole squad was dead and that he quit, leaving Seireitei. When they sent a search party in, composed mostly of captains, they found only Kenpachi's haori, tattered and bloody, on the sand. Everyone had assumed they were dead, and a new squad 11 was formed. Apparently, there was more to that story than met the eye.

"Who has weapons?" Merry barked, scanning the crowd. One or two people raised their swords, and Kamu held up his staff. "Then head out there and try to hold him off. We'll get officers out there to assist as soon as we can. Go!" Without hesitation, the small group ran out the door, Kamu leading the charge. Ace moved to join them before David grabbed his arm.

"Hold on! I know you want to fight, but that'd be kind of hard to do without Hisan right?" he pointed out. Ace looked at him confused for a moment before recognition flooded his face. "My sword! Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have left it back in my room!" he roared, hauling ass in the opposite direction. Ewart was right behind him, the big man keeping pace easily. David, however, moved to join the fight, quincy cross already in his hands.

Nick hesitated slightly before following Ace. He knew that he could fight without his zanpaktou, having actually bothered to learn some kido, unlike Ace, but if his opponent actually was the legendary berzerker, he wasn't going to take any chances. Backtracking through the confusing hallways of the palace, Nick heard various sounds of crashing, screaming, and perhaps the most worrying, laughter. He paused suddenly, realization hitting him. _There's no way that the fight could be this close if Kenpachi was back at the mess hall_ he thought. _That would mean-_

His thoughts were cut off by a sudden blast ripping through the corridor. Two bodies spilled out of the hole, coughing and stumbling. Nick recognized one of them. "Triana!" he shouted, running over to help his sister. He glanced over at the other person, barely recognizing another officer in Julian's grand army. "What happened?" he asked.

"Was walkin' through the halls, mindin' my own damn business, when I hear some nutjob yelling about how he's going to kick some ass." the officer said gruffly. He was an older man, age lining his face. A white mustache framed his mouth, and his hair was long and wiry, drawn back into a ponytail under a wide-brimmed cowboy hat. He wore riding boots and jeans, a brown leather jacket as old and weathered as he was covering his back over a blue and black plaid shirt. He sounded every bit like the cowboy he dressed as. "I decided to oblige him in the ass-whoopin' he seems to want so badly, when the next thing I know, I'm being blasted through the wall."

Triana was out of breath, clutching her side, zanpaktou gripped tightly in one hand. "I've never seen someone like that." she coughed. "He's not a hollow, or a shinigami. Not even a vizard like you. I don't... I don't know what he is."

"What I am, girly, is the new King of Hueco Mundo." a voice called. All three turned around, Nick instinctively moving to draw a sword that wasn't there. The speaker was a tall man dressed in white. His pants were wide and baggy, looking almost like shinigami robes. He wore no shirt, only a jacket that exposed his muscled chest, along with the large circular hole near his abdomen. A sword was sheath at his side, a blue hilt and an odd, S-shaped guard. His hair was fairly long, reaching his shoulders, and wild, sticking out in whatever direction it wished and colored an exotic electric blue. His eyes were a piercing green, with blue tattoos on the corner of each. A large bone jaw hung on the right side of his face, that only served to elongate his wicked grin. He jabbed a thumb into his chest, which had large scar running across it. "The name's Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Don't you forget it." he boasted.

* * *

Ace had made it to his room, swiftly grabbing his large sword before moving on. He didn't even bother going back the way he came, merely leaping out the large window and running across the white sand, choosing to go around the building instead. A smile split his face, elated at the chance of meeting one of his favorite people. _I wonder if it's impolite to ask for an autograph before I gut him?_ he thought cheerfully. He put on more speed, not wasting any time to reach his target.

It wasn't hard to find him. Surrounded by the bodies of fallen soldiers, Kenpachi Zaraki stood triumphant, his zanpaktou bloody in the moonlight. His hair was just as long as it had been when he disappeared, a large widows peak running down his back. He no longer wore the robes of a shinigami, instead covering himself with white pant similar to Grimmjow's. Kamu and David were the only ones left standing, but each looked like they weren't going to last much longer. Kenpachi seemed to agree, much to his distaste. "You know, I said I was looking for a fight. Whenever you want to send out the actual warriors, let me know." he spat

"Right over here." Ace announced, drawing his sword. "But before we begin, I've got to say, I'm a big fan. It's an honor to be the one to kill you."

That certainly got Kenpachi's attention. "You're not the first one to give me that speech kid. But the old man and the quincy are boring me anyway, so what the hell? I've got some time to kill." He rushed forward, much faster than Ace had been expecting. He barely got the block up in time before their blades collided in a shower of sparks. Kenpachi kept up the offensive, hammering blow after blow on his opponent. It was all Ace could do just to keep his ground, and even that was starting to fail as the sand beneath him began to give out from the force of the strikes. Realizing that he was in a bad spot, Ace took an opportunity in the small time between attacks to launch one of his own, slicing at Kenpachi's exposed stomach.

Kenpachi didn't even flinch, merely blasting his reiatsu around him in a burst of yellow energy. Ace was flung back, thankfully now out of the sand pit, and even David and Kamu had to struggle to keep their footing. Kenpachi just stood there, watching the spot where Ace had landed. "Come on, I thought you were going to kill me? At least make it a challenge for me, I haven't had a good fight in years!" he taunted.

Red reiatsu exploded out from the sand Ace was buried in. He got to his feet, energy flying off of him. "You know something? Neither have I!" he cried, holding his zanpaktou out, tip pointed towards the ground. He reached out with his free hand, closing it in a fist above the hilt. "Tear him to pieces! Hisan!" He roared.

As the large blast of reiatsu grew even larger Kenpachi smiled.

* * *

Nick had to think fast. He'd heard about Grimmjow before, reports about Aizen's army of arrancar being pretty easy to find. That being said, just like Kenpachi, Seireitei at large considered him dead, feeling comfortable knowing that none of Aizen's army had survived. _Well it wouldn't be the first time Seireitei was wrong_ Nick remarked. _But, first things first..._ "Hey!" he said, turning to the cowboy. "I need you to distract him for as long as you can. Think you can do it?"

The cowboy glared at him. "Boy, I was knocked through a wall, not killed. I can handle this punk." He reached down, drawing a bowie knife from his boot. "The only thing is, what're you plannin' to do while I've got him distracted?"

"Get back up." Nick muttered before grabbing Triana and taking off, running as fast as he could.

Grimmjow chuckled. "Man, talk about cold-blooded. He just left you to die, saving his skin."

The cowboy shrugged. "I figure I can take care of myself. Been doin' it fer years before I came here." He charged, wielding the knife with the practiced grace of someone who fought for a living. Grimmjow didn't even move to grab his sword, opting to use his fists instead. He easily dodged the strike, driving his fist into the officers stomach. Or he would have, if the cowboy was still there. Grimmjows eyes widened, staring at the empty space in front of him. "What the hell?" he growled, confused before he was suddenly grabbed from behind, a knife homing in on his neck. He grabbed the hand wielding it, surprised once again, this time by the strength of the wielder. He glanced over his shoulder at the cowboy. "How'd you manage that? Shunpo?" he growled.

"Nope. Just good old-fashioned knowing how to fight." he replied. "By the way, the name's Clint. Just in case you was wonderin'."

"I don't care what your name is." Grimmjow spat, pointing a hand open palmed behind him, right into Clint's face. "and if you've think you've won, you have no idea who I am." he crowed as he charged up a cero.

The blast of red energy erupted out of his palm, utterly leveling the area behind him. The missing knife at his throat told him that he had missed the elusive Clint, but at least he was away from him. He looked around the room, noting only himself and some rubble. "Hiding isn't a very good tactic." he called, charging up two cero, one in each hand. "Especially when it's your house, not mine."

* * *

Nick arrived at his room, dragging Triana along with him. Once he realized that they had arrived, he released his sister and grabbed his twin swords, which were leaning against the wall near his bed. As he placed them on his hip with a belt, Triana spoke up, startling him. "Why the hell did you drag me all the way here?" she demanded.

"Oh. You know what, I completely forgot I was pulling you with me." he responded, chuckling uncomfortably. Now that he remembered her presence, he took a moment to see if she was injured. Triana had grown her hair out more since they had left Seireitei, no longer wearing it in a ponytail. It fell down past her shoulders, the bangs still covering one eye. Abandoning her shinigami uniform, she had instead chosen a black t-shirt with vibrant neon colors painted on it in random strokes. Blue jeans and a gray jacket tied around her waist completed the look. Other than breathing a little heavily, she appeared uninjured. "Guess I didn't want you fighting that guy."

"Do you know him? I've never seen anything like it." she repeated.

"He's an arrancar, a hollow who's obtained shinigami powers." Nick explained. "But what he's doing with Kenpachi Zaraki, I have no idea."

"Wait, Kenpachi Zaraki is here too!?" Triana asked. "I thought he was dead!"

"So did I until a few minutes ago." Nick admitted. "Look, we have to get going. I don't know how long cowboy back there can hold Grimmjow back, and there could be others attacking the base." Triana nodded and they both ran back, using shunpo to move even faster. Nick drew his swords a short distance away from where they had left the pair of combatants, and behind him Triana did the same. When they turned the corner, what they found made them gasp.

The area surrounding them was left completely destroyed. The ceiling had to be held up through some kind of reishi, because all of the surrounding walls were gone, rubble littering the floor, making sure footing a hard thing to find. Grimmjow stood in the center, his back to the siblings, and Clint the cowboy was standing near him, bleeding heavily and cradling an arm.

"Hard to hide like a coward when there's nothing left, huh?" Grimmjow taunted. "I'm getting tired of this, I want to go all out!" He reached for his zanpaktou, drawing it slowly out of the sheath.

Triana and Nick moved in unison, not speaking but instinctively working together. Triana created a kido barrier, locking Grimmjow into place. As she did, Nick swooped in, swords flashing in the light as he moved to decapitate the destructive Espada. Their surprise attack would have worked perfectly, had it not been for the newcomer slamming a knee into Triana's stomach, causing her to release the barrier. Grimmjow took the few seconds of time it gave him to roll out of the way of Nick's strike before drawing his sword fully and slashing him down the side. Nick yelped in pain, landing hard on the rubble.

Triana, meanwhile, was having difficulties of her own. "What the hell was that for!?" she spat, pointing her sword angrily at her attacker.

"Well it's not like I can let you attack Kitty!" the other girl yelled back. She wore a white dress that seemed a little to long for her, bunching up on the floor. The sleeves were hacked off, leaving the material around the shoulders frayed and uneven. She gripped a zanpaktou in on hand in reverse, blade still in the pink sheath. The color of the sheath was matched by her hair, which was tangled and wild, reaching a little past her shoulders."Who are you two anyway, interrupting his fight like that! If Ken-chan were here, he'd hit you both!"

"Yachiru, why are you even here!?" Grimmjow shouted, clearly annoyed at the young girl.

Yachiru turned to smile happily, ignoring the man's tone. "I got lost trying to find Ken-chan, and then I heard you fighting so I came to watch!" she replied happily.

"Then just watch! I don't need your help!" Grimmjow shouted.

"You two do know yer in the enemies stronghold, right?" Clint asked, burying his knife in Grimmjow's shoulder. The arrancar howled in pain as the old man twisted the blade, digging deeper into the sinew. He twisted around, backhanding the cowboy through the air, leaving the knife embedded in his flesh. He whipped back around, pointing accusingly at Yachiru. "Where the hell were you that time!?" he barked.

"You said not to help!" Yachiru said cheerfully, smiling warmly at him.

Meanwhile, Triana was staring at the scene before her, trying to decide if she should laugh or take the opportunity to attack one of them. Nick, meanwhile, didn't hesitate at all. "Laugh, Kurokosa!" he shouted, activating his shikai. Both swords transformed, turning black and simplifying, blade and hilt molding into one. He charged, swinging wildly at Grimmjow, deciding he was the bigger threat. That turned out to be a mistake as Yachiru belted him across the side of the head with her sword. The blade was still sheathed, but that only served to make it more like a club than a sword, knocking him down. "I said that you shouldn't interfere." Yachiru scolded. "Now I'm going to have to make sure you don't."

* * *

Justin wandered around the hallways, listening to the sound of combat echoing around him. _You know, somebody really should do something about that_ he thought, not changing his pace in the slightest. He walked for a while more, before stopping. He heard a noise that was definitely _not_ someone fighting. It was more like someone shifting around, searching a room for something. He moved closer to the source, finding it in the room next to him. The door was ajar, and he pushed it in slightly, opening it more to peek inside.

He saw a man, wearing shinigami robes and what appeared to be a brown animals fur, ruffling though some filling cabinets. The mans back was to him, so he couldn't see his face, but judging from the many hollow masks covering the fur, he wasn't someone to mess with.

Justin decided to mess with him anyway. "Hey, I don't know who exactly you are, but I'm pretty sure Julian doesn't want you rifling through his stuff." he said, drawing his sword. The man paused, before withdrawing a file and stuffing it in his robe, closing the cabinet behind him. He turned slowly, facing Justin. His face was locked in a tired and weary expression, brown hair hanging in a mess. His hand was on the hilt of his sword.

"Looks like I've been found out." he muttered. "That's okay. I've got what I needed. Bel!" he barked and Justin's world faded to black, the last thing he felt a blow to the back of the head.


	4. La Resistance

**Chapter 3: La Resistance**

Blinking rapidly to avoid blinding himself again, he managed to keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds, taking the opportunity to look around. All around him, there were bodies, some in black robes, some in clothing that wouldn't be considered unnatural in the human world, some in white. The far off sounds of fighting were much clearer now, and he started to get up, ignoring the pain that was racing through his body, screaming in protest for him to stop, to give up, to lay down and accept his fate. _No_ he thought. _I'm going to finish this._

* * *

Kenpachi grinned, watching the large explosion of reiatsu as Ace released his zanpaktou. "Now we're talking!" he crowed, readying his own weapon. "I might actually get to have some fun after all!"

Ace smiled right back. "That's my line." he said before charging forward, Hisan swinging in a wide arc, chain revving. It was a slow swing, and the former captain easily avoided it, stepping back out of the way. Ace corrected his swing before it threw him off balance, coming back for another attempt. This time, Kenpachi decided to block. He couldn't miss the cocky grin on Aces' face as he raised his blade, seconds before Aces chainsword came crashing down. Immediately Kenpachi abandoned the block, moving farther away as Hisan slammed into the ground, causing the white sand to erupt in a cloud of dust.

There was a small silence as the dust cleared. "That's one wicked sword you've got there." Kenpachi murmured, checking the newest gouge in his own blade. "Almost broke mine in half."

"That's what Hisan does. There's nothing that I can't cut with this blade." Ace boasted.

"I thought I told you not to give me the same boring speeches again." Kenpachi groaned. "It's the same thing every time. _My armor is impenetrable, I can't be beat_ or _I can cut anything, nothing will stand in my way_. Let me tell you something I've picked up over the years. There isn't a single thing that's unbeatable or unstoppable. Everything has a weak point, a limit, something that it just can't make it through. And for most people, _I'm_ that limit."

"Never thought you'd be one for the mid-battle lectures." Ace muttered. "Just another reason to shut you up I guess." He lunged, blade whirring as it sliced through the air. Again they clashed, blades flashing in the moonlight as they gave up all pretense of blocking or parrying. It was all about doing damage now, and neither combatant was willing to give an inch of ground. Scores of small cuts and slashes soon laced their bodies as each managed to sneak in blows. Finally, Kenpachi reached out and grabbed the front of Ace's shirt, surprising him. He twisted and pulled, tossing the large shinigami right over his shoulder, apparently with little effort. _Just how strong is he?_ Ace thought as he flew through the air, managing to flip and land on his feet.

Kenpachi stood, still looking like he wasn't breaking a sweat even with the scratches and marks across his skin. "I'm starting to get bored again." he spat. "Come on kid, don't be another one of those guys who turns out to be not worth my time. If you are, I'd rather go back to fighting the old man and the quin-" the last word was cut short as a blue arrow exploded against the back of his head. Kenpachi stayed still for a moment, before slowly turning to look back over his shoulder at David, who lowered his quincy bow, a terrified expression on his face. "Attacking from behind is cowardly." Kenpachi scolded, his eyes promising murder. Suddenly, he reached out with his free hand and caught the blade aimed at his neck. Kenpachi looked back to a stunned Ace, his expression unchanged. "That goes for you too."

Ace didn't respond, to stunned by what was happening in front of him. Hisan, his zanpaktou that could cut through anything, was being held back by the giants bare hands. He could see the teeth buzzing, scraping across his skin as if it were made out of steel. _No, not even steel would be able to do this_ he thought. _What the hell _is _he_? He barely managed to react in time as Kenpachi's blade came hurtling into view. It wasn't enough, as the blade skewered him, sticking out of his back a few feet. Ace coughed up blood, his vision blurring.

"Hey, hey, don't get distracted. Didn't I say that there's always a limit?" Kenpachi asked, roughly kicking Ace off of his sword. In a flash of light, the white-haired shinigami's zanpaktou reverted to its sealed form. Ace wheezed on the ground, eyes still frozen in shock. "You're lucky you've been trained well. Good instincts. If you hadn't flinched at the last minute, I would have pierced your heart. As it is, you'll probably die anyway. But I figure there's more to you than I've seen here. So you better live to fight me again." The giant of a man sheathed his sword and started walking away.

"Hey! Get back here, we're not done with you yet!" David shouted, moving to release another arrow when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back to see Kamu shaking his head.

"There is nothing we can do against him at this time." the old man said. "See? He is walking away from the castle. He is no longer a threat. Now, we must focus on healing our brother in arms." David hesitated, but relented, letting his bow fade before running over to Ace's side.

* * *

Back at Nicks group, it was chaos. Utter chaos. Grimmjow reveled in destruction. It was his aspect of death, his reason for being. And he had absolutely no qualms about what he would destroy in his fight, as long as he won.

"That's right, keep running! I'm gonna hit you eventually!" he cackled gleefully, sending one bala after another at the bespectacled shinigami. Nick tried his best to avoid getting his sister and the cowboy in the crossfire, but because of that it severely limited his movement in the rubble. He knew Grimmjow was right, that the Espada would eventually get him, so he needed a plan, fast.

_**"Any particular reason you don't just hit him with me?"**_ Kurokosa asked flatly.

_You know exactly why I can't do that_ Nick snapped. _In order to get close I'd need to get within range of those bala. I'll need a distraction._ "Hey, cowboy!" he shouted, grabbing the other mans attention. "He can't hit us both, try to get in and hit him!"

"My name's Clint, not cowboy." Clint muttered. "And I guess I can give it a try."

Grimmjow merely grinned. "Shouting your plans out loud, not exactly the best strategy." he called, adjusting his aim so what one arm faced each of the men. He continued his barrage of bala, keeping them both pinned down. On the other side of the room, Triana was facing down Yachiru in what could quite possibly be the strangest battle ever.

"Uh, are you going to fight?" Triana asked as she stared at the young girl. Yachiru was lounging around on some rubble, he zanpaktou lying next to her. Triana had her sword drawn and stood ready to fight, but her stance was a little off, mostly because of her uncertainty in her opponent.

"No, I don't really like fighting myself." Yachiru replied. "I'd rather watch someone like Ken-chan or Kitty or Sharktits fight."

"I'm sorry, shark _what_?" Triana replied, barely holding back her laughter.

"You haven't met Sharktits?" Yachiru asked innocently. "She's really strong! Almost as strong as Ken-chan! Definitely stronger than Kitty!"

"I heard that!" Grimmjow barked, sending an errant bala their way. Yachiru giggled and leaped away, as Triana barely managed to dodge it, crying out in surprise.

"Now!" Nick yelled and both he and Clint charged while Grimmjow was distracted. The blue-haired arrancar spun around, caught off guard but still reacting in time. He charged up a cero, blasting Nick back into the far wall with it. Clint, however, managed to reach him, grabbing his knife still embedded in the arrancars skin.

"I'll just be taking this back if you don't mind." he said, yanking it out roughly. Grimmjow howled, twisting around and throwing a punch at Clints head. The older man dodged easily, jumping back to a safe distance. "So, ya like playing the long-range game, eh?" he asked, spinning his knife over one finger. "Well two can play that game. Draw, Bluesteel!" As the knife spun, if began to emit a bright light. Faster and faster it turned until it was a whirling disk of light. Finally, the glow faded and the knife was replaced with a rather large revolver, made of cobalt metal and etched with all kinds of vines and other symbols.

"What the hell is that? It kinda looks like one of Starks..." Grimmjow questioned, tilting his head curiously.

"Oh come on man, seriously!?" Nick whined. "Everyone else gets swords, he gets a freaking _gun_? How is _that_ fair?"

"Fair's whatever you want it to be youngin'." Clint grumbled. "Right now I think fair is ending this little tussle. I'm calling it on three. One." his gun began to glow, only slightly, as he held it by his side. "Two." The glow grew brighter, pulsing slightly. Grimmjow started to respond now, realizing that he didn't want his opponent to do whatever it was that he was trying. He charged forward impulsively, drawing his sword for the first time in the fight while he did. "Three!" Clint cried just before Grimmjow's blade collided with him. In a flash, Clint raised the revolver, pointing it right at Grimmjows face. There was a sound not unlike a cannon firing, and a large blast of blue energy shot out of the revolver, slamming into Grimmjow and launching the former Espada flying back. Nick had thought that the arrancars cero and bala were impressive, but the blast that Clint managed to create put them to shame, Grimmjow through the only remaining walls in the area.

After the attack faded, Clint blew the smoke out of the barrel of his gun before holstering it. "I win." he grunted.

"You win? Not by a long shot!" Grimmjow growled, pulling himself out of the rubble. He was bleeding, and bruised, his clothing in tatters, but was still alive. "It's going to take a lot more than that to take down the King." he spat.

Suddenly, a loud horn bellowed, somewhere outside the building. Grimmjow sighed. "Looks like this fights over. But don't think for a second I won't remember this. We're going to settle this fight another time old man!" he barked before tearing off down a hallway, Yachiru right on his heels.

Clint resealed his zanpaktou and scoffed. "That fellas a little to big fer his britches." he said.

* * *

Later that night, there was a meeting of the officers and Julian. Nick and David went to see what was going on, leaving Ace at the medical ward. They took their seats among the twenty or so other officers. Nick looked around and noticed that Ace wasn't the only one missing. Justin was too. _That's weird, I didn't see him in the medical ward_ Nick thought.

He let his thoughts die down as Julian stepped forward. "As you are no doubt aware, we have been attacked." he said, giving no real preamble to his speech. "Judging from reports, it is clear that these attackers are a group of shinigami and arrancar, the previous occupants of this fortress."

"What are they after?" one of the officers asked, and others muttered similar questions.

"We don't know yet. And we can't be sure if they are even on Seireitei's side, or a third party." Julian replied. "What we do know is that they have taken documents from my room, done a significant amount of damage to the Pantheon, and kidnapped one of our officers."

"Justin!" Nick said before he could stop himself.

"That is correct." Julian nodded. "Justin Nakamura has been taken, possibly killed or held prisoner. We need a squad of at least four officers to track them down and either confirm his demise, or bring him back. Anthony will lead the team, so that leaves three more. Any volunteers?" Nick and Davids hands shot up immediately. Julian smiled warmly, but shook his head. "Sorry boys, I know you want to save your friend, but I'm only willing to let one of you go." he said. "You can figure it out between the two of you. Anyone else?"

As the other two volunteers were being picked out, Nick leaned in to whisper with David. "What the hell is that about?" Nick asked. "Not letting the both of us go?"

"We've only been here two weeks." David replied. "He probably doesn't trust us yet, as he should." he added pointedly. Nick sighed, taking the reminder that David was going to side with the Pantheon over Seireitei in stride.

"Okay, in that case, you should go. Nothing's going to build trust between us and him more than sending our most trustworthy guy on the rescue mission." Nick said.

David nodded. "Fine, but I'm not even convinced that he's still alive. I mean, why even kidnap him?"

* * *

"Seriously, why did you kidnap this guy?" Grimmjow asked, leaning against the wall of their hideout. "He's useless, doesn't know anything about what they're planning, and we already have the information we were after. Just take him out and be done with it."

"Because there's something off about him." the man with the masks replied. "I know I'm not the leader of this little group of misfits, none of us are, but if we're going to survive we need more people." He squatted down in front of the tied-up Justin, staring at him face to face. "My name is Ashido Kano." he said pointing to himself. He moved his hand to indicate Grimmjow. "That's-"

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, Kenpachi Zaraki, Yachiru Kusajiki, and Tia Halibel all in this room alone." Justin cut him off. "With Halibel here, I can imagine that the rest of her amazon troop is nearby, which would include Sun-sun, Mila Rose, Apachi, Loly and Menoly. All surviving arrancar from Sosuke Aizens army, as well as the unexpected return of the thought dead captain and lieutenant of the eleventh squad. Did I miss anything?" he asked.

For a moment Ashido was speechless. Then he smiled. "We've got an ex member of the Suicide Squad here too, but other than that, spot on. I told you guys he was worth it." He exclaimed.

Halibel seemed unimpressed. "If he knows us, he knows what we can do. We can't allow him to live now." She started to draw her sword before Ashido held up a hand. "Do not think you can command me." she warned.

"I don't intend to. I simply wish to talk with our guest more." He leaned back down. "So you know who we are. But who are you? You're not a captain that I'm aware of, nor Zaraki. I could get Joshua down here, but then again, I wouldn't expect you to know anything about him and where he's from."

"On the contrary." Justin said, grinning from ear to ear. "I know _exactly_ where he's from."

* * *

**Okay, I believe I have managed to solve the problem some people have been having with telling the scene changes apart. When I write it in my program, there is a button I can click that puts a line going through. Unfortunaltely, it seems that this doesn't carry over when I upload it to fanfifction. Good news is, I've found a way around this so scene changes should now be much easier to spot. I'll go back and edit the last two chapters to fix this issue there as well. Thanks for reading, and remember to rate and review. Peace =P**


	5. Search and Rescue

**Chapter 4: Search and Rescue**

The group set out the first thing in the morning, if it could be called morning. It was an endless night in Hueco Mundo, so there was no telling exactly what time it was. As far as David was concerned, it was morning. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders to stave off the chilling wind. He looked around at his companions, who each seemed to be dealing with the cold in their own way. The leader of the expedition, Anthony, was acting like there was no cold. He marched forward, cloak clasped loosely around his neck, letting his white robe flap in the breeze.

Behind Anthony walked Isabella, one of the officers David hadn't gotten to know very well. She was incredibly skilled, it seemed, as Anthony chose her immediately after seeing her volunteer. She wore a black leather jacket, zipped up to avoid the cold, that concealed much of her tan skin. Rough jeans that were covered in black smears and stains protected her long legs. She had on tall boots that didn't help at all in navigating the sand. Her dark brown hair was cut short, covering one of her brown eyes. At her side hung a long flat sword with no guard, a machete. _That must be her zanpaktou_ David thought to himself, before moving on to the next person.

Ewart strode confidently in the middle of the procession. David knew more about him than the others, but that didn't mean much. He went without a cloak entirely, remaining dressed in only his cargo shorts. A large claymore-style sword, almost as long as the giant was tall, was strapped to his back with a leather harness. Despite the way he was dressed, Ewart seemed as unaffected by the cold as Anthony. He never talked much, in all the meals David had shared with the man and Merry, who seemed inseparable. His past and personality remained shrouded in mystery, though his combat abilities were outstanding, as David knew firsthand.

Bringing up the rear was perhaps the strangest one in the group yet. David had never actually seen this man before the officers meeting, and he made quite an impression. A short man, barely coming up to Ewarts chest and being a few inches shorter than David himself, Alistair was definitely the worst dressed for the occasion. He wore an expensive looking three piece tuxedo, coattails trailing behind him. On top of that were white gloves, a monocle, dress shoes and a bowler cap that sat lightly on his neatly combed blonde hair. He smoked a rather fat cigar as they strode through the wastes, twirling a cane with a diamond top in his free hand as he hummed a tune. David didn't know what to think of this one, but if he was an officer, he was dangerous, just as much as the rest of them.

Anthony stopped suddenly, raising a hand to tell the others to as well. They obeyed, Alistair still humming contentedly. Anthony knelt down, inspecting the ground before glancing up. He breathed deeply, eyes closed as he concentrated. Finally, he stood up. "Damn." he swore. "I knew we should have made Renard come with us, even if he didn't volunteer. I've lost the trail." He spat, clearly disgusted with his failure.

"What ho! How could you have expected to track these vagrants in such unfortunate conditions!?" Alistair crowed. His tone was eternally cheerful, but unlike Merry, whose warm voice was almost motherly, Alistair's cheerfulness came off as unnatural and forced. "Shall we return to our manse, then? Abandon our absconded ally?"

"No." Ewart replied. That was all he needed to say to get his point across. He, at least, was not going to turn his back on a comrade so easily.

"I'm with the big guy." David replied. "We can't leave Justin."

"How do you expect us to find them in this mess?" Isabella asked, her Spanish accent showing through. "Even if the storm passes, their tracks are long gone. Even Renard wouldn't be able to track them now."

That gave everyone pause. They stood there, thinking hard on any way they could use to pick up the trail. "Just because there's no footprints doesn't mean that the trail is gone." David spoke up suddenly, stepping forward. He closed his eyes, concentrating, focusing his mind on the task at hand. He reached out, focusing his reishi until he saw them. Strands of ribbons floating in the air, all around him. Five were connected to him and the others, though theirs were dyed red while his remained white. He ignored these ones and looked for any others. Glancing around, it was obvious that they were alone out in the wilderness. He sighed, his plan failed, and kicked at the sand under him. He stopped, head tilted quizzically as he stared at the patch of sand beneath him. He thought he had seen something, something odd in the sand.

He knelt down, squinting his eyes to focus. As he did, it slowly became clearer. There was something below him, many different white ribbons that blended in with the sand, all scrambled together in a mad collection of twists and ties. David jumped up, turning to Anthony. "Does the trail end here, or did you loose it a ways back?" he asked.

Anthony nodded. "It ends here. Wherever they went past this point, the wind has taken care of it by now."

"Not exactly." David grinned. "Try to sense below us. There's all kinds of things living down there. I don't think the trail ended here, I think they went underground."

"Underground? That's ridiculous, it's nothing but sand out here!" Isabella snapped. "There's no way anything could be under it, at least nothing that we could get to easily."

Ewart stepped forward, drawing his zanpaktou. The others all took a respectful step back, curious as to what the large man was doing. Walked a few paces past where David had spotted the underground and planted his sword in the sand. Immediately, it began to shift, piling in under him and creating a sinkhole. The others were swiftly pulled in as well, cursing in surprise as their already unstable footing was pulled out from under them. The sand silenced them as they were pulled under before settling, leaving the surface to look like nothing had happened.

* * *

Deep inside a strange, stone carved structure, Justin rubbed his wrists lightly, the marks from the binding he had been in still stinging slightly. "You know, the tap on the head is one thing, but did you really have to hogtie me like that?" he asked, annoyed.

"Just a safety precaution, nothing more." Ashido said, waving his hand as if to brush the comment aside. "But it doesn't matter. We've been wondering who it was that moved into Los Noches for a while now. Their patrols started to see us spying on them, so we...decided to announce out presence." the pause in his words spoke volumes on how he felt about that particular decision.

"Hey, they're in our home! I didn't come to their place and wreck everything!" Grimmjow spat.

"Actually, you kind of did." Justin pointed out.

Grimmjow whirled around to yell at the shinigami when Yachiru's pink head popped up between them. "Hahaha, he's right Kitty!" she giggled. "You were making a _big_ mess. I thought you wanted to move back in?"

Grimmjow scoffed and walked away grumbling. Ashido sighed. "There's to many power players here for any actual leadership. Lots of ego in the way. So we all kind of just do whatever, as long as a majority thinks it's a good idea. I thought that Kenpachi and Grimmjow wrecking the place would be a big enough distraction for me and Halibel to break in. Didn't expect there to be so many people though."

"Yeah, Julian's army is a lot larger than we thought when we showed up." Justin agreed.

"Speaking of which, your story is almost unbelievable." Ashido said. He beckoned with one hand for him to follow, and the two shinigami moved around the carved hallways of their base. "If it wasn't for Joshua I wouldn't believe that the Suicide Squad even exists in the first place."

"Speaking of, who is Joshua exactly? And how did you all end up here, you've got quite the strange set of comrades." Justin asked. The hallway they were in inclined up, and the floor turned into carved steps. As they walked, Ashido explained the circumstances around his group.

"I've been here for almost longer than I can remember." he began. "I was part of a group that was attacked by hollows. After they slaughtered most of us, we began to even the odds. The hollows started to retreat, and we followed them, blinded by rage at our friends deaths. Then we arrived in the Menos Forest. We were surrounded by powerful hollow. We tried to fight them off as long as we could, but eventually we were overwhelmed. I was the only survivor."

Ashido paused, indicating the hollow masks on his back. "These masks are from the hollows I've killed since then. They help protect me from the ceros and other attacks. Eventually I was found by a group of... Well three of them were shinigami. The others... Well, I helped them get to Los Noches, where they were headed. I would have traveled with them, but I was forced to collapse the exit to the forest in order to stop the hollows in the forest from following. By the time I managed to escape to the surface, the battle was over."

"Two years passed and I continued to fight hollows whenever I could, killing as many as I could. The Vanderreich came and went, their short and bloody war with Seireitei barely affected us here in Hueco Mundo. After they left to attack Seireitei, I investigated Los Noches, looking for any remnants of their army. That's when I found Halibel and her friends. They had been taken captive by the Vanderreich, for reasons I can only guess at."

Ashido stopped again, this time staring pointedly at the ground. "I...I was going to kill them without a second thought." he said. "I would have slaughtered them just for being hollows. But something Halibel said stayed my hand."

"What did she say?" Justin asked.

Ashido looked up and continued walking. "She asked me to spare the lives of her comrades if I was to take hers. I had never heard of that before, a hollow offering to sacrifice herself for the sake of another. At first I thought it was a trick, but the desperate look in her eyes told me the truth. She truly cared for the lives of the others. So I freed them. And we kind of stuck together ever since, trying to survive."

Justin nodded. "That still doesn't explain Grimmjow, Kenpachi and Joshua." he pointed out.

"I was getting to that." Ashido replied. "Shortly after I freed Halibel, Grimmjow reappeared in Hueco Mundo, declaring himself King. Halibel seemed to take offense to that, and a fight broke out. It was intense, one of the most incredible battles I've ever seen. However, it ended in a draw. With no clear winner, they both had to accept that neither could rule with the other one still alive. So, now they work together, each trying to get stronger than the other."

"That doesn't sound very good for team morale." Justin commented.

"It's not, and it doesn't help when Kenpachi is added to the mix." Ashido agreed. "I still don't know exactly how he ended up here with that girl. We stumbled upon them wandering the desert, barely alive. They had been in a battle of some kind, and when we found the battlefield it was a massacre. Thousands of bodies piled as far as I could see. The sand is permanently stained red there now, the blood of so many seeped into the very ground. When we nursed them back to full strength, Kenpachi refused to tell us what happened, and also refused to go back to Seireitei. So, we took them in as well."

"Joshua is... interesting. He found us, as it were. One day we woke up, and there he was, sitting in our camp cooking breakfast. Once he calmed us down, he explained who he was and that he was on a mission. As far as I know, he's still on that mission. Here, talk to him about it." He turned suddenly, making Justin almost fall over in his attempt to stay with the grizzled shinigami. They arrived in the entrance of the stronghold, a wide cave entrance that spilled out into a vast cavern. Justin couldn't even see the other end, or the ceiling for that matter. Large pillars of white stone sprung up from the ground all around them.

"Where the hell are we?" he asked.

"The Menos Forest." a voice said. Justin nearly jumped out of his skin, looking around for the source of the voice. He saw no one, only himself and Ashido, who clearly had not spoken. "No activity so far boss." the voice said.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Ashido muttered. "And show yourself, I want to introduce you to this guy."

The rocks next to Ashido rose up and moved, much to Justins astonishment. It was shaped roughly like a human, only for a flash of light to reveal it to be a shinigami. As he sheathed his now unreleased zanpaktou, Joshua grinned. "So, you're the one Ashido kidnapped? Interesting." Joshua was a tall man, stretching over Justin. He was clean-shaven, with a short crew cut of black hair. He looked a lot like a military man, the way he carried himself and this tone.

"So, you're from the Suicide Squad too, huh?" Justin asked, reaching out to shake hands.

Joshua blinked twice in surprise before shaking hands enthusiastically. "Oh wow, I never thought I'd meet someone else from the squad! How's everything going? Is Chad still around?"

"Last time I checked he was." Justin said. "So what's up with this mission, I've never heard of someone heading into Hueco Mundo alone."

"Oh, it's top secret, hush-hush kind of stuff, even for us." Joshua replied. "Technically, not allowed to talk about it, but I'm after someone. Assassination is my specialty."

"I can see." Justin said, eying the other mans zanpaktou.

Joshua grinned. "Oh, you have no idea. What I did just now with the rocks is nothing. Wait till you _really_ see me in action."

* * *

David blinked rapidly, groaning as he rolled into a sitting position. He felt like he had been dropped off of a building. Looking up, he noticed that the moon and stars weren't in the sky anymore. In fact, there was a large white pillar sticking up into the sky next to him. "What the hell?" he asked sleepily.

"Not hell, Menos Forest!" A young voice replied. David looked down to spot a young girl standing in front of him. Behind her he could see the rest of the team, still unconscious. Focusing his attention, he looked back at the girl. She was curious looking, not the least of which because of the skull she wore like a helmet. Her green hair, purple facial marking across her nose, and the vicious scar splitting her brow in half only served to make her look even stranger. "Hi!" she cried gleefully. "My name's Nel! Want to play tag?"


	6. Plan of Attack

**Chapter 5: Plan of Attack**

Nick paced back and forth in his room, the world outside the window as dreary and empty as always. _No,_ he thought, pausing to glance out. _Not empty. There's people out there, people who clearly don't like that Julian and his group are here. Maybe I can use that to my advantage._

"**Yeah, and maybe they want to kill **_**you**_** just as much as they want to kill the bald guy."** Kurokosa snarked. **"Face it, we're on our own here."**

**"No we're not!"** Shirohana chimed in, his childish voice sounding unnaturally harsh.

_Hold on, hold on, I can't talk with you both like this._ Nick thought as he reached over to grab his zanpaktou. Sitting on his bed, he crossed his legs and placed the blades on his lap, crossing them over each other. He sat for a short while, eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply, meditating. He felt a breeze cross his face and he opened his eyes, finding himself not in his room as he had been, but sitting in a field. The sky was overcast, dark clouds spilling out as far as the eye could see. It looked like it could rain at any moment, though it never had as long as Nick had been there. He stood, stretching lightly while looking around. The field he was in was just as endless as the clouds, tall, green grass swaying lightly in the wind. Ahead of him was a simple white house, next to which stood a tree. There were two figures standing near the tree, and from the body language and raised voices, they were having quite the argument.

"We have no one to rely on!" Kurokosa yelled, using his height advantage to try and intimidate the smaller spirit. "Justin's gone and Ace is incapacitated! There's no one left to trust!"

"What about his sister?" Shirohana asked. "She can still help! And Shauna and David..."

"Those two? Come on, open your eyes for once!" Kurokosa spat. "We're lucky that Shauna agreed to not immediately attack them, she's probably still loyal to Seireitei. And the quincy has made it pretty clear where his allegiances lie." He folded his arms, suddenly looking if not sad, then a little hurt. "As for his sister..."

"My sister refuses to talk to me." Nick pointed out, walking over. The two spirits looked up, each reacting differently to seeing him. Kurokosa, predictably, rolled his eyes and huffed, trying his best to look even more aloof. Shirohana, however, ran over with a shout of joy and jumped up to pull Nick into a hug.

"It's been so long since you've visited!" he cried happily, hanging off of the shinigami's shoulders.

"I know, I'm sorry about that." Nick smiled. He lifted Shirohana off of him and put the little spirit back down in the field. He was barely taller than the grass, making him appear mostly hidden. "Shirohana's right by the way." he said, looking over at the larger spirit. "We can still trust David and Shauna. Seireitei attacked us because we got exposed, that is all. If we could just lay low, we would be able to go back to the Squad and live our peaceful lives of assassinations and black ops. But, since we've stumbled across something that we honestly should have known about in the first place, it's our duty to put a stop to it."

"Why?" Kurokosa asked. "Why can't we just pack up and leave? Sneak out in the middle of the night, grab our friends, head back to the Graveyard. We disappear, tell the Squad what's happened, and form an offensive from there."

"Trust me when I say that there is nothing I would like to do better." Nick replied solemnly. "Unfortunately, I don't think we have the freedom needed to plan an escape like that. Julian would be an idiot if he wasn't keeping all of us under constant surveillance. Hell, I'd almost believe that he trusts David, but even if he did, that wouldn't do us any good."

"So you're saying we're stuck here, behind enemy lines, with almost no allies at all?" Kurokosa groaned. "This is going to be a tough one."

"We still have allies. That is what's important." Shirohana pointed out. Nick smiled, ruffling the kids hair.

"Yeah, we still have allies."

Nick came out of his meditative state, taking a deep breath before opening his eyes. He shouted in alarm and fell back on his bed when the first thing he saw was another pair of eyes looking right at him. "What the fuck!?" he yelped, scrambling to grab his zanpaktou. Calming down once he realized he wasn't being attacked, he glared at the person responsible. "Shauna, what the hell are you doing?" he asked.

"I came to chat, found you meditating. I've never really gotten a chance to see someone else using Jinzen before, I was curious." she explained, as if Nick was foolish to even ask such a question. "Anyway, I wanted to ask about what we should do, what's the plan?"

"Plan? I told you, the plan is to stay alive. I don't even know what do do myself, and suddenly everyone seems to think I'm the leader of the group. The Suicide Squad never had a leader, even on missions! There's no reason for people to assume that I'm going to be the one to take charge!" Nick snapped, exasperated. "I can see a million different ways that this situation can turn out, and not all of them work out well for everyone. I'm going to try my best to keep everyone alive, but that is as far as I can go. I'm not the leader, I don't make plans, I'm just an assassin. A black ops agent. A ghost."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Finally, Shauna spoke up. "I didn't exactly want to be in this situation." she said. "I wanted to see new things, explore the human world I had heard so much about. And it was nice hanging out with friends, even if we were running for our lives most of the time. Now I'm stuck in Hueco Mundo as part of a group dedicated to fighting against the people that I've considered my comrades for my entire life. Triana is in the same position I'm in."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Nick groaned.

"Not really, no." Shauna smiled. "But it should tell you that you're not the only one in a bad situation. Even David is having a hard time. His friend was killed right in front of him by a group that he was only trying to help. You say that there's many ways this can end. I think that's why we're looking to you as a leader. You can see the best way out. So, tell me, how do we get there?"

Nick was silent for a long time, thinking hard on what Shauna had said. Finally he stood up. "Come on. We have to go see my sister."

David stared, confused at the child in front of him. He had never seen anything like her. She was running around wildly, laughing uncontrollably as she fled from an unseen assailant. David couldn't figure out how the skull she used as a helmet stayed on her head. Finally, she stopped running around and turned to look at the quincy. "Hey! Nel thought you were going to chase her!" she demanded.

"Why would I do that?" David asked. "And where are we?"

"Nel just told you silly! Menos Forest! It's where all the big hollows play, the real nasty strong ones!" Nel replied cheerfully. "You're not very smart."

"Hey! I just fell, like, a hundred feet, give me a break!" David barked.

Nel snickered. "Nel falls down here almost every day! It's fun!" she replied. David's stomach dropped. _What the hell is she if she can survive a fall like that every day? _he thought.

"Now come on!" she yelled. "You have to chase Nel! Oh, Nel knows!" With a burst of speed that took David completely by surprise, she rushed forward and snatched the quincy cross he wore on his neck, ripping the pendant off. "If you don't catch me you can't have your necklace back!" she teased before tearing off into the darkness.

"Hey, wait!" David shouted, scrambling to his feet and running after her. They ran throughout the forest, weaving in and out of the trees and over fallen logs. The terrain was almost impossible to move through, something David took note of. _It doesn't look like there's any life here_ he thought. _Even small hollows would leave some kind of game trail here and there. But the girl said that this is where hollows came to play. That doesn't make any sense._

They veered around a corner and suddenly the truth about the forests name became _very_ clear to David. A Menos Grande, a large hollow the size of a skyscraper, loomed above him. The creature was black and had no limbs to speak of. Its mask was mostly flat, but had a protruding nose like some kind of old jester. It shrieked when it saw him, immediately charging up a cero blast. David dived out of the way, just as the beast unleashed a beam of red energy, that crashed through the forest around him. David swore, getting to his feet, before he noticed that he was in front of another pair of Menos. "Oh shit." he muttered before he began running for his life. The path this time was unclear and random. He simply wished to escape the large beasts. Cero blasts tried to intercept him on occasion, and he had to stay on high alert to keep from being fried.

As he ran, he became aware of girlish giggling next to him. "Nel told you tag was going to be fun!" Nel screeched as she ran, easily keeping pace with the quincy.

"Give me back my cross!" David yelled, diving for it. Nel easily avoided him and kept running.

"You have to catch Nel, that's the rule!" Nel shouted. "And keep running, or the Menos are gonna get you!"

David froze before looking behind him, yet another Menos looming above. "Oh you have got to be kidding." he groaned before another cero blast was launched. And so the chase began again, this time with David trying his best to catch the girl, Nel. He followed her, using the constant stream of giggles she made to track her when he lost sight, either from tight turns of dodging cero. They ran for what seemed like hours, but was probably more like ten minutes. Suddenly, David noticed that the giggling had stopped. "Nel?" he called, sliding to a stop, kicking up some dust.

A scream split the silence in the forest, coming from his left. David charged towards it, forcing his tired legs to keep moving. He broke into a clearing where he found the girl. She wasn't alone. A humanoid hollow with a strange mask stood in the center, holding the girl up by the front of her shirt. Its mask was roughly cut, two eye slits revealing angry red eyes. What looked like hair fell down to its shoulders, that upon closer inspection, were actually tentacles. Its jaw split in two as it roared, causing Nel to cry again. Something caught the light, and David saw his cross dangling from the childs hand.

"Nel!" David yelled, running forward. "Give me the cross, quickly!" Nel didn't seem to notice him, probably because she was so afraid. But the hollow did, snapping it's fierce gaze on the quincy.

"Oh look, you were kind enough to bring me another snack. You have my thanks Arrancar." the hollow sneered. It tossed Nel over its shoulder, where she hit one of the trees pretty hard, apparently knocked unconscious.

"Nel!" David yelled, running to her aid. The hollow intercepted him, ramming him with a shoulder tackle. David was sent tumbling across the ground, lying on the floor for a moment before slowly getting up. _That hollow hits _way_ harder than any other hollow I've fought before_ he thought before it was on him again, kicking him roughly in the stomach. David wheezed, trying to get air into his lungs, but they wouldn't obey him. The hollow continued its punishment, savagely beating the quincy.

As it brought down its fist for yet another strike, it found itself embedding its hand on a razor sharp blade of light. The hollow shrieked in pain, backing away and cradling its wounded hand. David held the Seele Schneider in a defensive position. "Just because I don't have my bow doesn't make me helpless." he boasted.

"Strong words from a morsel like you." the hollow sneered. It charged a cero blast, this one a bright green, and launched it towards him. David barely avoided it, the beating he received earlier putting him at a disadvantage. The hollow seemed to sense this, pressing the attack with multiple ceros, sending blast after blast at the helpless quincy. David moved in a circle, rounding the outside edges of the clearing to avoid the blasts. Then, he passed Nel, who was still passed out against the trunk of the tree. The hollow was preparing another cero blast, ready to incinerate anything in its path. _I can't leave her there, she'll be killed!_ David thought, twisting around mid step to run back.

It all kind of happened in slow motion. The hollow fired the cero blast, which shot through the air towards the pair. David reached out, grabbing Nel. As he did, he noticed her eyes opening. The first thing she saw was David diving for her. Instinctively, she jumped up, avoiding his grasp, and moving right into the path of the cero. She gasped, her mouth opening wide as the cero moved to engulf her.

_Wait,_ David thought, staring wide-eyed at the scene before him. _It's not hitting her. _As he watched the cero seemed to be getting smaller even. _She's eating the cero _he thought in amazement. Quickly Nel gulped down the rest of the blast. There was a short pause as she landed on the ground where nobody moved. David and the hollow both seemed to be in shock from what Nel had just done, and the girl herself was acting like she had a stomach ache. Suddenly, she burped, releasing a cero that was twice the size of the original, absolutely destroying the hollow that was directly in front of her.

David stared, in complete awe at what this strange little girl could do. _There's no way she's human_ he thought. _Didn't that hollow call her an arrancar? So she's like Grimmjow, that guy Nick fought?_ He approached her cautiously, kneeling down behind her. "Nel?" he asked tentatively.

The girl turned around, tears in her eyes as she sniffed, trying to hold them back. It seemed she couldn't and she unleashed a torrent of tears, leaping into David's arms and crying. "That was so scary!" she bawled. "That hollow was so mean, and he would have hurt Nel if you hadn't shown up!"

David smiled warmly. "It's alright, I've got you." he said.

Suddenly Nel stopped crying. "Oh! You won tag! Here." she said, handing him his cross back. "Nel's sorry for taking your stuff. But there's no one for Nel to play with down here. Not after Pesche and Dondachoka went away."

David was going to ask who she was talking about when he heard someone coming close. Jumping up, he drew his bow before realizing who it was. "Anthony! Good, you guys are awake." he said, seeing the rest of his group stumble into the clearing.

"Yeah, and we've had a hell of a time getting through this forest. There's Menos everywhere." Anthony sighed.

"Not just Menos, Adjuchas too." Isabella barked. "Strong little bastards."

"Oho! But they are still no match for the might of we four!" Alistair declared.

"Who is that?" Ewart asked, always the direct one. That got everyone else's attention, and soon they were all asking who Nel was. David explained what happened, along with where they were.

"So she's an arrancar, like the one that attack the compound?" Isabella asked, drawing her sword a bit. "If she's aligned with Grimmjow, she has to go."

"Whoa, hold on, we can't kill her!" David protested. "Just because she's an arrancar doesn't mean she even knows who Grimmjow is."

"Nel knows who he is!" Nel declared proudly. David groaned and Isabella moved into a defensive stance. "He and his friends don't like to play with Nel, except for the pink girl. Come on, Nel will show you where they are!" she said, and with that, she started walking off into the woods.

The group stared after her for a moment before David shrugged. "She seems innocent enough. I say we follow her." he said, doing just that.

Alistair and Ewart followed suit, leaving Anthony and Isabella. "I still think she's a threat." Isabella muttered, sheathing her sword and jogging to catch up.


	7. Next Level

**Chapter 6: Next Level**

Justin was starting to relax more. Sure, he was, for all intents and purposes, technically in an enemy stronghold being held prisoner. But, those same enemies were working against the people he was working for, who he secretly wished to destroy, or at the very least keep from realizing their plans of wiping out the people Justin _really_ worked for, so in the end it all works out. Sorta. As of right now, though, he was pretty content with the situation.

"The hell are you lookin' at, all dreamy eye'd like that!?" Apache yelled, leaning in so close to Justin's face that their noses almost touched. "I've got half a mind to poke those eyes out, keep them from wanderin'." she growled. The woman was short, but fiery, wearing a fairly modest white uniform except that it showed off her cleavage rather nicely. A roman-style helmet adorned her head, red fur lining the top.

"What Apache means to say is that she's flattered to get any kind of attention with a body like that." Sun-sun whispered, mouth hidden behind a long sleeve as normal. She, too, wore a white uniform, in the style of a Chinese dress. Hers covered pretty much everything, except for a little leg when she walked. Her long black hair was held out of her eyes by the bone fragments that acted like a clip.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Apache yelled, spinning around and confronting her partner. "You're just jealous because you don't have a figure to show off, so you hide behind that stupid outfit!"

"Apache! Sun-Sun! Quit it!" Mila Rose shouted, quieting the others. She was much taller than the two of them, and in fact stood taller than any woman that Justin had seen, rivaling Ace in height. Her skin was dark, and she wore typical amazonian clothes, a white cloak covering her shoulders. Her mask was a sort of crown, with two bull horns extending upwards, placed on top of a large mane of wild brown hair. "We're supposed to be watching this guy. Halibel-sama still doesn't trust him, and neither should we! Understood?"

Apache and Sun-sun scoffed, each muttering to themselves, insulting the others and asking when Mila was put in charge. Justin, merely laid back against the wall, grinning. "Ladies, please, no need to fight on my account." he said smoothly.

"Watch your tongue or someone might cut it out." Mila Rose snapped, unsheathing her broadsword slightly.

"I'd honestly _love_ to see you try, and so, for that matter, would the other guy. He's been pretty feisty lately, what with being back on his own turf and all." Justin challenged. "Hard to do while I'm tied up though." he added, raising his bound hands.

"Do not be so hasty to make challenges to my subordinates." a new voice rang out. The three women in the room immediately faced the doorway, rapt at attention. "Good morning Halibel-sama!" they all rang out at once.

Halibel sighed. "I swear, you don't have to do that. I'm going to get back at Joshua for teaching it to you, I swear." she said. "Now, about you." She strode over to where Justin sat, wasting no time and being direct. She wore a basic set of white pants, or basic as far as the arrancar uniform goes. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your preferences), that was all the former espada was wearing. Her mask fragments covered her mouth, plastering it with a sinister smile, not unlike a sharks. The bone-like material spread down her neck and out, over her breasts, covering herself, but only barely. If you looked, you could still see the number three tattooed on the inside of her chest. Since becoming queen of Hueco Mundo, Halibel had let her hair grow out more, and it hung loose past her shoulders. She knelt down in front of the captured shinigami.

"I have a few questions for you, and I would like them answered immediately." she said, making it very clear who was in charge.

Sadly, Justin was never one for authority in the first place. "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have to tell you shit." he replied, smiling warmly. "Ashido knows I'm good to work with you, Joshua can confirm my history, and to be quite honest, if I wanted to leave here I could."

"I find that hard to believe with how easily I got the drop on you." Halibel responded, her face not showing any sign of emotion.

"And at the time I found it hard to believe that a land-shark was going to creep up behind me and club me in the head." Justin shot back. "But, hey, if you want I'll give you round one. Want to go for two?"

Halibel was quiet for a while, and the Tres Bestias held their collective breath, waiting for what their leader would do. In the end, Halibel stood back up. "I do not think you are a threat to Hueco Mundo. I believe you truly want to destroy the ones who have taken over my home. So, we will work together."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to say no on that." Justin said, shocking the others.

"I knew it!" Apache roared, stepping forward. "You're just like the others, to good to work with a hollow, cause you're a high-and-mighty shinigami! Ha! We don't need you! I spit on your stupid pride!"

She reared her head back, preparing to do just that onto Justin's face. Before she could blink there was a flash of light and she was flying through the air. There were shouts, the sound of blows being struck and grunts of pain. Finally, a loud clang rang out. Apache got to her feet, drawing her chakram bracelets before realizing that the battle was already over.

Justin stood in the same place where he was, the ropes that bound him slashed and curled up at his feet. On his face was a hollow mask, fully manifested and covering his entire face, as well as one of his arms. The mask was shaped roughly like a V, two horns jutting out over the top of his head. A red line streaked down over his left eye, and another crossed over both horizontally. His arms was a wicked claw, with a long spike sticking out of the elbow. In his hand, which struggled slightly from the position, was Halibel's bare blade. The former espada held on with one hand, clearly still trying to cleave the vizard in two. Justin laughed, his voice echoing.

"Pride? No, that has nothing to do with it. But I _won't_ take kindly to being spit on. I have at least that much." he said, glancing over at Apache. "No, I just don't work with criminals."

"Criminals? The hell do you mean by that?" Mila Rose asked. She had been thrown back across the room, after her first strike severed Justins bonds.

"I mean exactly that, are you deaf?" Justin barked. "You four, Grimmjow, Loly and Menoly, all of the remaining members of Sosuke Aizens army. You are, without a doubt, the most wanted people in Seireitei history. We've sent agents all over Hueco Mundo trying to find and eliminate you. And I don't want you going into this thinking I'm on your side."

"Then whose side are you on?" Halibel asked, putting more weight on her sword, causing Justin to give some ground.

Justin giggled lightly to himself. "I'm on whatever side is going to keep me alive." he said. "Which at the moment is your side." He let go of Halibels sword, and neatly moved out of the way of the resulting strike. Halibel caught herself before she fell, straightening up and giving Justin a curious look.

"I've fought your kind before." she said, staring at his mask, his yellow and black eyes.

"Not exactly." Justin replied, the mask crumbling off of him. "And as I said, I just want you to know the score. I'm not going to go out of my way to back you up, and I don't expect you to do the same to me. And if it all ends and I get my orders, there will be _no_ hesitation. Clear?" he asked, glancing around.

The women were silent, and the tension in the room rose. Then, finally, Halibel moved to the exit. "I can live with that. For now." she said as she left. The others followed after her, but Apache gave one last glare over her shoulder at Justin. The vizard smiled as he flipped her off. _I think I'm going to like this place_ Justin thought.

* * *

Nick and Shauna arrived at Triana's room shortly after what Nick assumed to be nightfall. Honestly, he had no idea, and it was starting to get old. Regardless, he knocked on the door and paused, waiting for an answer. When he got none, he knocked again, listening for any kind of movement inside. Again, nothing. "Maybe she's somewhere else?" Shauna suggested.

"Nah, she's in there. I can sense her." Nick replied. He shrugged. "She's probably asleep." He said as he kicked the door down, a loud BANG causing Shauna to jump. That was nothing compared to his sisters reaction.

"What the FUCK!?" she yelped, jumping out of bed and fumbling for her zanpaktou. "Come on, I'll kill ya all!" she yelled, still half asleep as she stumbled forward, swinging her still-sheathed blade wildly. Nick caught it and ripped it out of her hands.

"Put that down would you, are you trying to kill someone?" he asked, poking her in the forehead. "Sit down, I need to talk with you."

"Nick?" she asked drunkenly, staring out through her wild and unkempt hair. "The hell do _you_ want?" she groaned, laying back down on the bed, not even bothering to sit up.

"I need to talk to you about your zanpaktou." Nick said, putting the blade in question on her lap. This seemed to catch her attention, as she sat up and looked at the purple blade.

"Why?" she asked, as Shauna sat down at a chair on the other side of the room. "It's not like it's busted or anything. Hell, it works just fine."

"See, that right there is what I want to talk about." Nick said. "How did you learn your zanpaktou's name?"

"What do you mean how? Same way everyone else does. I talked to it until it talked back and it told me its name." Triana said, like she was explaining basic math to a twenty-year-old.

"You keep calling it an "it". Why?" he asked.

"Well, that's what _it_ is genius." she snorted. "It's a sword. A weapon. It lets me blast people that are annoying me all the way over there." She gestured at the far wall, apparently still mostly asleep.

"Okay." Nick said, suddenly turning to Shauna. "How did you learn your swords name?" he asked.

"I asked her." Shauna replied matter-of-factly. "It wasn't hard, like some of the others made it sound. One day I just asked her and she replied."

"Aha! There! See the difference Triana?" Nick asked, turning back to his sister. His face fell when he noticed that she was sound asleep, still sitting up. "Wake up dammit!" he snapped, clapping his hands in front of her.

"Whoa, I'm up, I'm up!" she yelled, shaking her head. She turned to look at Nick. "So what do you care about my sword? Don't you have two?" she asked, clearly not getting the point of the conversation.

"Yes, but that's not the point." Nick sighed, deciding to be more direct. "Look, Shauna refers to her zanpaktou as a she. My zanpaktou, Shirohana and Kurokosa, are both he. Now why is yours an it?"

Triana looked down, trying to think through her cloudy head. "Well, I've never bothered to call it anything else." she answered.

Nick nodded. "That's going to change as of right now."

Triana scoffed. "What are you, my teacher? Go teach someone else." she muttered, waving him and Shauna away as she tried to lay back down.

"No, dammit, pay attention!" Nick roared, grabbing her arm and pulling her back up roughly. "I'm trying to keep you alive, don't you get it? Right now, you two are all I've got for allies. And sorry if it's tough to say, but you don't make the cut. None of us do. The only one who can stand a chance of surviving the war coming is Ace, and he might not even be able to."

His speech seemed to have knocked the sleepiness out of Triana entirely. "Alright, well what does that have to do with knowing if my sword's a guy or a girl?" she asked.

"I think I get it." Shauna piped up. "But Nick, I don't know if it's going to work."

"It has to work." Nick said forcibly. "It's the only way out of this for all of us."

"Okay, you two want to fill me in? Because I'm totally lost here." Triana muttered.

"It's bankai." Shauna answered. "Nick wants us to learn our bankai."


	8. Friends Don't Let Friends Kill Friends

**Chapter 7: Friends Don't let Friends Kill Friends.**

The pain was intense but he managed to get to his feet. He stood there, swaying, trying to keep his balance before attempting to take a step. Once he did, he slipped, crashing into the ground. His body screamed in pain, and so did he, his voice echoing out across the vast, dead, reaches of Hueco Mundo. He wanted nothing more than to stop but he knew that to stop meant the end of the world, of multiple worlds. There was to much at stake, to much on the line for him to stop now. "Come on soldier." he grunted, moving again. "on your feet."

* * *

"There! See? Nel told you she knew where she was going!" Nel declared, pointing ahead at the rock face in front of them. The small group stopped, staring out at the cliff.

"I don't see anything." David finally said, voicing what everyone was thinking. "I think you're lost again Nel."

The little arrancar girl shook her head, violently throwing her teal locks around. "Nope, nope, nope. Nel is sure of it this time." she replied. "Here, I'll show you." She turned back around and climbed up over a boulder, moving towards the cliffs. Isabella stepped forward, leaning against the rock next to David.

"I still don't trust that little imp as far as I can throw her." she spat.

David sighed. "You don't trust _anybody_ Isabella. That's why you're an officer."

"No," the Hispanic woman replied hotly. "I'm _alive _because I don't trust anyone. I'm an officer because I can wipe the floor with any one of you pandejos."

"Stop it you two." Anthony barked quietly as David was about to offer his rebuttal. "Something's happening."

Sure enough, they could see Nel, now a small green dot in the distance, moving erratically. David squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. She seemed to be waving her arms around and, now that it was quieter, he could hear her talking to someone, though he couldn't make out the words.

"Is she talking to someone?" Isabella asked, clearly hearing the same thing David had. "What's she saying?"

"If you'd shut up for a moment I might be able to hear." Anthony growled. There was a short silence and Anthony climbed up a little higher on the rock, leaning in towards Nel. David kept watching the girls actions, and it was a good thing he did.

A small glare was all the warning he had. He acted in instinct, a feeling of dread washing over him moments before he moved. Quickly he grabbed Anthonys tunic and pulled, rolling across his back to drag the older man out of the way. Not a moment to soon, as something split across the rock with an echoing CRACK, leaving a neat, small groove in the stone.

"Sniper!" Isabella yelled, hitting the deck herself. Ewart and Alistair took cover behind some trees, which were thankfully large enough to hide their bodies. Nel's voice was rising even higher now, and David could make out some of the words.

"-doing!? Don't shoot – friends!" she yelled. Apparently she was arguing on their behalf, but the sniper was probably not going to listen.

"We're sitting ducks out here." Isabella hissed. "Is Anthony okay?"

"I'm fine." the man grumbled, getting up to his knees and shaking his head. "Just caught me by surprise. So, anybody have a plan?"

"Yeah, kick that guys ass." Isabella snapped, hand reaching for her machete.

"That won't do you any good, unless your shikai is long-range." David pointed out. Isabella hesitated for a second before releasing the blade, grumbling in frustration. David turned to his three other companions. "I take it none of you have long-range abilities either?" he asked. They all shook their heads. "Then I'm the only one who can do anything about this." he said, grabbing his cross, ripping the chain off from around his neck.

"Think you can take him? I didn't even hear a shot and whatever he's shooting at us with isn't a bullet I've ever seen." Isabella asked, glancing at the boulder they had been hiding behind.

"Can I take him? No, probably not." David admitted. "But I know where he is, and I know that cover won't mean a damn thing. So I'm going to distract him while you four sneak in. Grab Nel if you can too, ask her what this guys problem is."

"David, I don't think that's a great ide-" Anthony began, but David was already up and moving, running across the clearing bow at the ready. "Dammit!" the robbed man yelled, motioning to the others to move out. David shot rapidly, loosing arrow after arrow at the spot on the rocks that he had seen the glare. _That has to be where the sniper is. Glare from the scope on his weapon_ he reasoned. Quickly the cliff face was destroyed, small rocks and other rubble raining down the side, creating a dust cloud. David didn't stop running, but he was sure that he had shaken up his opponent. _Now, to move closer_ he thought, changing direction.

Again, he didn't hear the shot. Only this time, there wasn't a cracking noise as the bullet struck rock, but a sickening squish. Pain lanced up his leg as he felt it give out from under him, sending him into a tumble across the rough forest floor. The injuries he got then, merely a few bumps and bruises, paled in comparison to the pain in his leg. He was stuck, whimpering on the ground, clutching for his knee. That's when he realized, to his horror, that he didn't have a knee anymore. Not entirely.

"Shit, shit, shit." he hissed, clenching his eyes shut, not wanting to look down at his wound despite knowing exactly how bad it was. He wasn't going anywhere, and his bow was a few yards away from him, having left his grip while he was falling. Instead, he lay curled in a ball, waiting for the next shot that would kill him. But it never came. Slowly, he began to realize there was a presence nearby. He opened his eyes, looking at his attacker.

Only it wasn't an attacker. It was Nel. She stood in front of him, arms wide as she faced some unknown force. "Leave Nels friend alone!" she yelled. "Nels friend is only looking for his other friend! Nel wants to help him because he was nice to Nel! You told Nel that you only hurt bad people, but David was kind to Nel! I won't let you hurt him anymore!" She gasped for breath, her declaration taking a lot out of her apparently.

There was another pause, nothing happening. Then there were footsteps, coming closer from the other side of Nel. Davids eyes were starting to tear up from the pain in his leg, and he could barely make out the shape of someone moving towards them.

"Nel, you have to understand." a mans voice said as the footsteps stopped. "This guy, he doesn't want to help you. We know he wants his friend back, but we can't let him. It's...it's complicated. And I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to protect him."

"But you promised Nel!" she screeched. "You promised Nel that you were one of the good guys! And David is a good guy too! So why..." she stopped, her words broken up by sobs. "why are you trying to hurt each other!?"

The man didn't reply immediately, instead just standing there in silence. Finally, he spoke. "Please move Nel."

"NO!" She shouted back.

"Nel." David wheezed, struggling to look up. Through his blurred vision, he could see her turn to look at him. "Nel, you have to go." he said. "Get out of here, and don't look back."

"Nel doesn't want to go!" she cried, jumping on top of David. "Nel wants all of her friends to stop fighting and to get along! Nel doesn't want to be alone anymore!"

David heard a noise, a kind of clicking sound. He glanced up, past Nels mass of teal hair, and saw the man who she was talking to. He was tall, probably the size of Ace, only skinnier, with black hair in a clean short cut. In his hands was what looked like a sniper rifle, only much more streamlined. All along the barrel were small holes, possibly for ventilation. Instead of a scope, there was a small round glass. And it was pointed right at Davids head. "I'm sorry Nel." the man said.

He moved to pull the trigger, but he stopped. A look of confusion passed over his face and he tried again, his whole arms struggling in place. Slowly, in a jerking fashion, his arm lowered, pointing the weapon at the ground. "What the hell!?" he yelped, body shaking in place like some weird kind of seizure.

David stood, much to the astonishment of both Nel and the sniper. He reached out a hand and his bow floated over, almost lazily. He caught it and glanced at his opponent. "You know, in Los Noches there are all kinds of things left over from when the Vanderreich were stationed there. Books about the quincy and their abilities. This happens to be one of the more complicated ones." As he spoke, white lines appeared over his body, as well as the other mans. They were more like threads, floating off into the air in places. While they only covered Davids injured leg, they were all over the other man, wound tight, keeping him in place. "Ransotengai."

"I've heard of this." the man said. "Quincy use spirit strings to manipulate their limbs, let's them move even if they've been paralyzed. Though I've never heard of it being used to tie up an opponent before. Who are you?"

"My name is David. I'm working to destroy the current corruption in Seireitei." David replied. "Who are you?"

"Classified, but I'll at least give you my field name. I'm Joshua." the man replied.

"Well then Joshua, let me tell you this. Ransotengai is incredibly hard to maintain on someone who doesn't want it. So pretty soon, you're going to be set free. But I do not want to cause Nel any more harm than she has already gone through. So let's compromise." David suggested.

"I'm listening." Joshua said.

"She doesn't want to see anyone else hurt? Fine. Just give us back Justin and we'll be on our way." Something flashed in Joshuas eyes, something that David didn't like the looks of. "Me and my companions will go, nobody gets hurt."

There was a long silence, during which Nel looked back and forth between the two men, concern etched on her face. Finally, Joshua spoke up. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea. Okay, let's-"

"What was all that ruckus out here a second ago!?" a new voice boomed. David turned to look, letting his guard down and breaking the spell. Quickly Joshua reacted to his new found freedom, snapping his rifle up and putting it to the back of the Quincys head. "Don't move." he hissed.

The one who caused the distraction jumped down from the cliff, another person at his side. The smaller of the two jumped up and ran forward, tackling Nel and pulling the little girl into a tight hug. "Nel-chan! It's been forever!" Yachiru squealed, tightly hugging her friend.

The other man stepped forward, revealing himself to be Kenpachi Zaraki. "So like I said, what's going on out here?" he asked, eying Joshua and David.

"Everything's under control Zaraki." Joshua said in a calm, neutral voice. "I was just talking with my new captive here."

Kenpachi moved his gaze to the younger man, recognition flooding his eyes. "I remember you." he said. "You were at Los Noches with the old man. So tell me, did that kid live? The one I sliced up?"

Before David could answer, a shadow raced across the rocky floor, leaping up at Kenpachi. There was a loud clang, as sword met sword, and Kenpachi blocked the attempted assassination. He looked down almost lazily at Isabella, the woman struggling to keep her guard up against the larger mans sword. "And another one. How many do you think there are out here? Enough to keep me entertained?" Zaraki asked, face splitting into a lethal smile.

* * *

All was quiet at Los Noches. The large structure looked abandoned, not a single light or any sign of movement from the inside. Of course, Chad already knew that it was abandoned. He had checked that building himself multiple times. There was nothing left there except for dust. And yet, here he was, looking over the white sand of Hueco Mundo at the derelict headquarters of Sosuke Aizen. He sighed, getting to his feet and stretching. He had been crouched on the dune for a long time, and his muscles were sore from misuse. He turned over to the group of Suicide Squad members he had brought with him. "We're going to have to check it again." he said.

They all groaned. One of them, a stout man with long black hair and piercings on his lip spoke up. "That place is enormous. Even if the three of them are in there, how are we supposed to find them? It's a wild goose chase, all of it!"

Someone in the back stood up, his white coat making him stand out among all the black robes of the squad members. He strode through the ranks until he stood beside Chad, his white hair ruffling in the wind. "We were ordered to find the fugitives and bring them back to Seireitei. If there is a chance that they have taken shelter in the wreckage of Los Noches, then we will have to act on that chance. Any objections?" he asked.

The black haired man snorted. "Look, Captain Hitsugaya? I'm glad we don't have to hide from our own side anymore, but no offense. Why are you here? We can take care of our own, we don't need you."

Toshiro turned his icy blue eyes on the man. "I am a captain of the Gotei 13. These men have taken on others of my rank and lived to tell the tale. You're going to need all the help you can get."

"And again, no offense, but every man in the Suicide Squad is on par with the strength of a captain." the man replied. "So, why are you here?"

Toshiro was quiet for a long time before turning back to Los Noches. "We move in an hour. Be ready." he said before walking down the dune.


End file.
